1Thessalonians 4:3-5 NET
For this is God’s will: that you become holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to possess his own body in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God.

Dear Believer,

God has given us rights as citizens of His Kingdom, but that is not all. He has given us responsibilities too. The problem is, too many Believers only want to claim their Kingdom rights. As far as the responsibilities are concerned, they want none of them.

There are things that only God can do in our lives, and there are things He won’t do for us. When we know the difference, we are on our way to maturity.

The passage above shows us the will of God concerning sexual immorality as far as the believer is concerned.

Abstain! That is His will.

It says each of us must KNOW HOW TO POSSESS HIS BODY in holiness and honor. That is to say it is up to you to learn to discipline your body and be in control of it instead of letting it control you.

Possess, or control your body in holiness and honor. Sexual immorality is filthy and dishonorable. It corrupts the temple of the Holy Spirit which your body is.

1Corinthians 6:18-20 KJV
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

You can see that the later part of the passage says we must glorify God (or worship God) in our body. Too many professing believers think worship is just singing and praising God. Some think you only worship God ‘in spirit.’

No. Worship includes using your body honorably and in holiness. The fact that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit has massive implications and must be taken very seriously.

Paul the Apostle didn’t just say all this; he experienced it and he even put it down for us in a beautiful way.

1Corinthians 9:27 UST
I discipline my body and I make it obey my commands. I do not want to preach the good news to others and then lose my reward because I failed to fulfill what he commanded me to do.

If you don’t learn to make your body obey your command, it will hinder you from obeying what the Lord commands you to do.

Be Lord over your body. Do not let your body rule over you. It can be a very terrible master. This isn’t only in matters of sexual immorality but in all other areas of life as well. For instance, some Believes cannot even get their body to stay without food for a single day!

Now is the time to take charge of your body!

Have a great day!

Your friend,
Deon.

2 Kings 20:2
Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD.

Dear Believer,

When a sign comes that doesn’t bode well, or a messenger of God speaks under inspiration about you, like in a prophecy, don’t let it end there, especially if the utterance is not positive.

The King of Judah, Ezekiah was once sick, and then the national prophet brought him bad news.

2 Kings 20:1
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

Isaiah wasn’t a prophet of mean status. He delivered his message matter-of-factly and with a tone of finality, without the slightest hint of emotion. The sick king wasn’t given any choice in the matter. “You will die and not live!”

As the prophet marched out of the king’s bedchamber, the king realized that although God sent the prophet, he himself had access to God.

So, King Hezekiah faced God.

2 Kings 20:2
Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD.

The tears poured. Hezekiah discussed with God and pleaded his own cause. No intermediary or intercessor was needed. The prophet had delivered his message of death in such a cold manner and was probably on his way to consult with the king-makers on who the next king would be, so telling the prophet to pray with or for him would be a waste of time.

God be praised! When the prophet settled down with God and pleaded his own cause, God heard.

We read that before the Prophet left the middle court of the palace, God spoke again to him.

2Kings 20:5 KJV
Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.

The second message was delivered just as the first was – with mechanical diligence. The prophet was a mere messenger; God was the one to face.

Here is the lesson: plead your cause with your God.

Some panic whenever there is a prophecy or some sign that evil is imminent. But the way the message comes does not matter. Any sign — be it sickness, a terrible dream, a prophetic vision — should not be the end of it. You have a God whose door is always open to you. Go in boldly unto Him and plead your cause.

Note that Hezekiah didn’t spend a long, long time praying. He didn’t raise a prayer team to beg God on the matter. He simply turned his face to the wall and made the matter a case between him and God only.

God forgave him, healed him and restored him.

And that was during the Old Testament! How much more eagerly would God respond to His children under this better covenant!

Hebrews 4:16 KJV
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Make supplication for yourself. Do it for you children. Pray for your husband. That negative vision and the bad dream doesn’t have to come to pass. That disease shouldn’t be the end.

Take the Word of God to Him and hold on to His promise. Stand to rebuke the devil and claim life in place of death, strength in place of weakness, abundance in place of lack and peace in place of unrest.

It may take a short while or a long while, just let the Spirit of God lead you as you settle the matter with your heavenly father.

Mark 11:23 KJV
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Plead your own cause!

The Father is waiting.

Have a great day!

Your friend,
Deon.
—-
For Further study read 2 Kings chapter 20.

1Timothy 5:6 KJV
But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.

Dear Believer,

Have you ever noticed that people generally see the pressures of life as the enemy and consider the pleasures of life as something to embrace?

Well, God wants me to sound the warning today that life’s pleasures can be as dangerous, and even sometimes more dangerous, than life’s pressures.

Our scripture focus today was originally written to some carnal women who had given themselves to the pleasures of the flesh, but we understand that the principle is applicable to everyone.

In the parable of Jesus about the rich man and Lazarus, we see a man who was an embodiment of fleshly pleasures. (Read Luke 26:29-31). He was always dressed in expensive attires and fed himself the best of food everyday.

Another man became successful in his business and began to play God with the future. His focus became his possessions. (Please read Luke 13:26-21).

Neither of the men mentioned above ended well, and I’ll tell you why.

Pleasure is very deceitful. We read of the deceitfulness of sin (Matthew 13:22); we see the deceitfulness of riches (Mark 4:19). This kind of pleasure we are speaking about gives a man a bloated and exaggerated opinion about himself while shortening his life, blinding him to eternity and drugging his senses. The man becomes like the ‘stoned’ drug addict who in a ‘trip of pleasure’ wants to fly off the top of a skyscraper. He is deceived by the artificial pleasure induced by the drug.

In fact, even churches can be deceived by pleasures. Some Christian congregations have made their elegant buildings, state-of-the-art equipment and abundant money their focus. Here’s God’s view about the Laodecian church:

Revelation 3:17 VW
Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing; and do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

So, like the pleasure seeking women in our focus scripture passage, even a church can be dead while being alive! In Revelation 3:1, the church of Smyrna was told by Jesus, “You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead!”

Well, that sounds to me like a zombie church.

One of the signs of the end time is that men shall indulge in pleasures at the expense of their relationship with God.

2Timothy 3:4 KJV
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.

That is to tell you, Believer, that Satan will work so much on advertizing his sinful pleasure in these times. That is the easiest way to catch unsuspecting, unwatchful believers.

Don’t be a victim of your flesh. Like Paul, decide always to ‘put your body under’ so that you won’t become, like Paul said, a ‘castaway.’ (1Cirinthians 9:27).

Live a life of self-denial. The pleasures of this world never satisfies. The more you have, the more you want, and in the final analysis, they are worthless with absolutely zero eternal values, set to be consumed by fire.

You are a Believer, my friend, and your priority is the Kingdom of God.

Have a pleasant day!

Your friend,
Deon.

Matthew 13:26 EasyEnglish 

The good seeds grew and the plants began to make seeds. But when this happened, the weeds also grew.

Dear Believer,

Those of us who experienced crop farming aren’t strangers to the stubbornness of weeds. These useless and often dangerous plants take up space, compete with the real crops for nutrients and take from us energy that could be used to take care of the crops.

All aspects of life should be approached with the ‘farm mentality.’ The farm shows us that weeds are an unavoidable fact of life. Everyone has to deal with weeds. 

When you plant your grains of maize in a good soul, they grow. But then you notice that weeds also grow. You didn’t plant them, but they grow anyway. They are bad, but they grow in good soils anyway.

You don’t leave weeds to take care of themselves. If you do, your farm will be taken over by them. They choke your crops and waste your efforts. As a young boy with a farm, I’ve experienced it. I got too busy doing school work and came back to meet my farm overgrown with weeds. The crops I planted had become malnourished beyond redemption. All my efforts were wasted!

It is a tragedy today that many believers spend time initiating good things in their lives but spend no time weeding out bad things. This happens a lot in the areas of character and spiritual development.

A believer might neglect to deal with lust that started as a little, irritating feeling tugging at his heart. He may go on growing in the good areas. But that is a problem.

Bad things grow, too!

Neglecting to remove them doesn’t stunt their growth or kill them.

Growing good things in your life doesn’t automatically kill bad things, either.

You must settle down and have a definite system of dealing with the vices that are lurking in the shadows of your life.

Laziness, procrastination, envy, lust, anger, greed or whatever it is that are not compatible with a lifestyle of holiness, uprightness and integrity must be crushed.

If they are demons, deal with them. If they are habits you picked up while growing up, start uprooting them.

All of us have heard of certain ‘men of God’ who were found to do some grievous things and ruined their names and ministry. The sins they committed were usually the weeds that had grown in their lives for decades — weeds they neglected to uproot while developing the good abilities they had, growing in the anointing and influence. 

It takes only one bad seed to spoil a whole basket of fruits. Do not tolerate weeds!

Matthew 15:13 KJV 

But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

Settle down and take and take inventory of your moral and spiritual life. Pray. Seek counsel. Bring the hidden weaknesses out from the shadows into the light and let the Sun of Righteousness incinerate them.

Today again, I pray you end well!

Have a great day.

Your friend,

Deon.

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Matthew4:10-11 WMTH

And he sent and beheaded John in the prison. The head was brought on a dish and given to the young girl, and she took it to her mother.

Dear Believer,

How the earthly life of John the Baptist ended reveals the capacity of the human heart for purposeless vengefulness.

John had rebuked the king for having sexual dalliances with his brother’s wife. Whether he would have left them alone or not is a case that would make for an interesting debate. Afterall, Jesus was around at that time, and He didn’t say a word about it to the king who took his own brother’s wife. 

Well, John rebuked this man in public, and stirred up royal anger. The king didn’t like it, but he shrugged it off. He put John in prison, maybe to save face and then later let him off.  After all, he was the king. What would the word of a rough, locust-eating prophet do to him?

But the woman who was ‘snatched’ from her real husband didn’t take kindly to the prophet’s word. Herodias was going to silence John the prophet, and to do that, she was going to take off his head from his shoulder.

Then there was this party in the palace where the adulterous woman’s daughter danced seductively to entertain the guests. The king was so impressed that he told the young lady to ask him for anything.

What would a teenaged lady want from a king? A mansion? The rulership of a province? A fleet of ships to ply faraway places in quest of rare treasures? Jewelry of inestimable value? 

The girl’s mentor was her sly mother, so she asked her. Mother told daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist. I doubt that the girl even understood the implication of this.

Herod hated John, but he respected him, too. He didn’t want him killed. Unfortunately, the wicked king had married a woman more wicked than himself. 

The king was sorry, but he must never break his oath which he pronounced in the presence of so many people.  So he sent his guards to cut off the head of John, who was already in the prison by then. It was brought on a platter.

Platters were used for serving food, but the prophet’s head wasn’t food to be eaten. It was useless to the woman who wanted it. It had absolutely no value to the lady who danced. It wasn’t of any value to the king who ordered it cut.

Bitterness will go to any extent to extract it’s bound of flesh, and after it has gotten it, will do nothing with it.

There are characters in this story that must be prayerfully  avoided if you want to fulfil your destiny.

Herod the Shameless. He would shamelessly commit sin and wouldn’t ever want to be rebuked or corrected. Avoid such a friend or a leader. Study how Jesus related with this particular Herod and you will understand what I’m talking about.

Herodias the Vengeful. This woman wouldn’t only sin shamefully, but would use whatever power she has to crush anyone who speaks against her evil ways. She is usually very pretty and highly motivated. This character could be of any gender. They are driven by lust and power.  Pray for wisdom to deal with these. 

Salome the Puppet. People like her have no mind of their own. They may be highly skilled in something, but they still have someone with selfish interest pulling their strings somewhere and influencing their every decision. Being close to someone like that sets you up to be used or seriously hurt by some bad people.

In all, ask, and believe God for wisdom, discretion and divine protection. May you not be a victim of a vindictive person or people in the name of Jesus. Start praying now.

Have a great day.

Your friend,

Deon.

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Psalm 78:19 NET
They insulted God, saying, “Is God really able to give us food in the wilderness?

Dear Believer,

God’s is absolutely omnipotent. He possesses superlative abilities. We know this in our spirits, and that’s one of the reasons we are Believers.

However, because we are still in the ‘days of our flesh,’ our interactions with the physical world, and the constant use of our intellect may get many of us into a a place where we begin to ascribe man’s weaknesses and limitations to God.

You have or had a human father. As a Believer, you have a heavenly Father too. Now, both of them are fathers to you. The issue is, your mind can be tricked at some point to start seeing both fathers in the same way. The carnal mind starts attributing the limitations of the earthly father to the heavenly Father.

But they aren’t the same. Your earthly father didn’t create the world, neither is he omnipotent. He has many weaknesses. Your heavenly Father has no weaknesses that can negatively affect you.

Israel was in the wilderness. God broke them out of slavery with a powerful hand. They saw the hand of God in everything, but as humans, they sometimes started to think of God as an earthly father who may forget his child or get too busy or even neglect them.

For this reason they said things about Jehovah that they shouldn’t have even allowed to cross their minds.

When they were hungry, they doubted the ability of God to feed them in the wilderness. They couldn’t imagine how He could get food for the millions of them in a place where water was lacking and food didn’t grow.

It is true that human fathers couldn’t do that. There were very many fathers among them, and they could never do that. They brought God to the same level as a weak, irresponsible or neglectful earthly father.

What was God’s response to this? How did He feel about it?

Psalm 78:21-22 NET
When the LORD heard this, he was furious. A fire broke out against Jacob, and his anger flared up against Israel, because they did not have faith in God, and did not trust his ability to deliver them.

It is an insult to God when a man doubts his ability. It is double insult when you doubt His willingness to help His own children.

“Can God give us food in the wilderness?” they said. Today many believers are insulting the loving God. “Can God heal me?” “Can God change my situation?” “Can God still give me a child?” and so on.

How could the God of the whole earth bring them to the wilderness and abandon them? How can God bring you this far and put you to shame?

He is your God. And He is YOUR heavenly Father, remember.

Declare His ability. Never be ashamed to declare His power and ascribe greatness to Him, just as Moses did.

Deuteronomy 32:3-4 KJV
Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

And you will experience His might.

Have a great day.

Your friend,
Deon.

ten1Peter 4:7 KJV
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

Dear Believer,

Drunkenness is a vice that no one loves to be associated with. No person who is a drunkard goes about ‘flaunting’ their skills at making a fool of themselves. Everyone knows soberness is a virtue.

When someone speaks of drunkenness, we immediately think of intoxicants like wine and beer. As believers we think of passages like Proverbs 20:1 which says:

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

Or:

Proverbs 23:29-30 KJ2000
Who has woe? who has sorrow? who has contentions? who has babbling? who has wounds without cause? who has redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

What we must understand is that drunkenness is also a metaphor for a lifestyle or practice of indulgence in negative vices.

Wine is a physical substance that intoxicates. There are also other moral and spiritual substances that can result in the dulling of our spiritual sensitivity.

Someone may be drunk on wine, while another gets drunk on pride. It is also possible to get drunk with anger. It is quite common to get drunk with lust.

Have you ever noticed that the effect of extreme emotions like uncontrolled anger can be like an intoxicant? People under the its influence act like they are drunk. The speak foolishly and act stupidly.

Just as no one wants to be friends with an angry man, King Solomon also counseled:

Proverbs 22:24-25 KJ2000
Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man you shall not go:  Lest you learn his ways, and get a snare to your soul.

We are called to be in control of our faculties any time. No kind of emotion must take over our senses as children of God. No vice of negative influence must drive us. We must maintain soberness.

Sobriety is one of the virtues that every believer must cultivate. Without it, we cannot exercise victory over Satan and his wiles. We are soldiers, and no one goes to war drunk as a skunk.

1Peter 5:8 KJ2000
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:

Our soberness must be both physical and spiritual. The Believers that will miss the Lord at the end are going to be those who get drunk on the things of this world. That is why Jesus said:

Luke 21:34 KJV
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

Believer, watch out for the things that are taking over your thoughts and attention. If they aren’t of the Spirit of God and are filling you more and more, you may become ‘overcharged’ and be drunk with them. So watch what flows into you lest you lose your soberness.

Losing one’s soberness makes one to lose their discernment, sight and hearing. That’s and a dangerous place to be.

May you ever walk in discernment and watchfulness in the name if Jesus.

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Acts 19:15 KJ2000 

And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?

Dear Believer,

Everyone has a spiritual status. Each of us is known as something, and for something, in the spirit realm.

I have seen again and again as someone shouts and does all kinds of demonstrations to cast out a demon, and yet is unsuccessful. Then along comes another person and speaks calmly to cast out that demon, and the demon obeys.

The reason is, the demons or other forces of Satan don’t only respond to the name of Jesus. If it were so, anyone — Believer or not — would take up the Name and use it. But it doesn’t work that way. 

You must first have an identity in Jesus Christ. Then you must understand that your authority needs to grow. 

The sons of Sceva thought they had studied and understood the way Paul cast out demons. They approached a demon-possessed man and commanded the demon to leave. 

“We command you in the name of Jesus, the one whom Paul preaches.” (Acts 19:13).

If there’s one thing we can learn from demons, here is it. 

First, the demon wasn’t affected at all, even though the name of Jesus was mentioned. In fact, when the demon responded, he mentioned the name of Jesus and nothing happened to it, contrary to what some people believe that demons can’t mention the name of Jesus.

The demon told them, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul.”

After a pause during which the demonized man must have looked around wondering who these people were, he said, “But who are you guys?”

These guys couldn’t answer. They had no identity in the spirit world that could frighten the demon. The demon weighed them and sized them up, and found them empty. They had come to cast a demon out, but that demonized man pounced on them and cast them out after stripping the seven of them naked!

Believer, mouthing the name of Jesus is not enough, you must understand that your status in the spirit world matters. Carnal people are known by the devil and are not respected by demons. Those who are walking in unbelief can’t bother the devil; they will be ignored even if they are shouting the name of Jesus.

That man in whom the demon was had never met Jesus, and I’m sure he’d never met Paul, otherwise the demons in him would have been cast out. Yet the demon in him could say, “I know Paul.” 

News travels far in the spirit world. Your time of prayer, fasting, studying the Word is being noticed by everyone in the spirit realm, whether angels or demons. They know as you grow or diminish in spiritual authority.

Enhance your spiritual status. Strengthen your fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Do not joke with your time of prayer. Exercise your spirit continually. Then when spiritual confrontations come you won’t stand ashamed before inconsequential demons. 

Have a great day.

Your friend,

Deon.

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